"We will not be relegated. There are still more than a dozen games in the league. As long as we beat Hamburg at the weekend, we can regain our morale and gain a foothold in the Bundesliga!"
At the pre-match press conference, Fürth coach Buskens was very convincing.
But no one seemed to believe what he said.
After 23 rounds, Felt's results look very pitiful: 3 wins, 7 draws and 14 losses, with only 16 points, scoring 13 goals and conceding 36 goals, ranking last in the standings.
Their defense is actually pretty good, conceding 36 goals in 23 games is not too much. After all, even fourth-ranked Frankfurt conceded 34 goals.
But Felt's offense was so terrible, he only scored 13 goals!
You know, Augsburg ranks second to last in terms of goals scored. They have scored 20 goals.
The offense is weak, which is the main reason why Felt is currently ranked at the bottom.
Whether it is the media or the fans, Felt has already booked a relegation spot for this season, because they are still 11 points away from the fourth-to-last safety zone!
This civilian team, which only achieved the achievement of entering the Bundesliga for the first time in history last season, should be unable to reverse its fate of being eliminated in the first round.
But Buskens is still so confident because they upset Hamburg in the first round! This was one of Felt's only three wins this season.
By the way, the other two opponents they defeated were Mainz and Schalke 04, which are currently ranked seventh and eighth, which can be regarded as a small giant killer.
According to Buskens, if you can beat Hamburg once, you can beat Hamburg a second time.
And once they can continue to score points against Hamburg, which is currently ranked second, then Fürth will definitely cheer up from the downturn of consecutive defeats and regain the hope of relegation!
…
"I won't say more. Anyway, they want to defeat us again. It depends on whether you agree or not."
At the pre-game preparation meeting, Pan Yi gave a brief speech and prepared to disband.
Of course, Pan Yi is not underestimating the enemy.
How could he have the right to underestimate a team that had defeated him once?
Moreover, the Hamburg team has always been known as "robbing the rich and giving to the poor" this season. The one who "robbed" is Dortmund and Bayern, but who is "helping"? It is a bottom team like Fürth!
So Pan Yi still made very thorough preparations for this game.
What should be said and practiced has been done in the past week.
Most of them are deployed based on the 442 disc-shaped midfielder used by Fürth coach Buskens. Adjustments have been made based on the subtle differences in their playing style with Hannover 96. Now everyone is clear.
Therefore, Pan Yi just continued to click on the "revenge" option before the game and let the players work hard!
But this time, goalkeeper coach Ronny Teuber, who rarely spoke proactively, raised his hand to indicate that he had something to say.
After getting Pan Yi's nod in agreement, Teuber said: "Now Felt's main goalkeeper Wolfgang Hess, I know him a little bit, and there may be some points we can take advantage of."
"Oh? Say it." Pan Yi became interested.
This is actually something we often see in preparation meetings.
Usually when preparing to face the next opponent, the coaching staff will analyze the characteristics of each opponent's player and see what weaknesses can be exploited.
However, some players may be relatively mediocre, and the information is not very sufficient. In fact, it is difficult to analyze anything.
This may also be one of the reasons why strong teams sometimes get upset when they meet weak teams.
It's because some players on weak teams may not have strong overall abilities, but they have one or two unique skills.
For example, dribbling, long-range shooting, etc., but he was not noticed, but he suddenly came in during the game and stunned the strong team.
At this time, if the players or coaches of the team know the players of the opponent, such as former teammates or former disciples, they can share their knowledge, including how to inhibit their performance. Things like that are helpful to everyone’s preparations.
In Pan Yi's previous life, it was said that when Arsenal played against the Norwegian team Bodø in the Europa League, because many players from the opposing team had been selected for the Norwegian national team, Arsenal captain Odegaard listed the characteristics of these players. Informed the coaches and teammates so that they could make targeted arrangements.
While becoming a "traitor", Odegaard also helped Arsenal defeat their opponents...
So, at this time, Teuber cleared his throat and said: "This Hess was in Hamburg in 2004. I took him with him. He stayed here for seven years and only played twice for the first team. Most of the time They all played in the second team or on loan. In 2011, he moved to Dynamo Dresden in the Bundesliga 2, and he only came to Fürth to play in the Bundesliga this season."
Pan Yi nodded and motioned for Teuber to continue.
It can be seen from Hess' resume that he is obviously an average goalkeeper.
A small team like Fürth has limited financial resources and cannot afford truly capable players. A goalkeeper like Hess, who is at the Bundesliga level, can also play the main role in the team.
This is why Pan Yi cannot have a more in-depth understanding of it.
Unlike players from other Bundesliga teams, Pan Yi, who was a senior fan in his previous life, knew more or less.
As for Fürth, who was promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time, he also used many teams that originally played in the Bundesliga. Pan Yi was not particularly familiar with all the players.
He could only observe them through their recent games and make a rough design.
"In the past few years, he has had relatively stable playing time during his time in the Bundesliga 2."
Teuber continued:
"Even this season, he only got a chance to play in the 15th round in Fürth, replacing the original main goalkeeper Glenn."
"In other words, Hess's Bundesliga appearance record is less than ten games, which means that his experience in the top league is actually very insufficient, and he may not even be able to adapt to our high-intensity pressure."
"In the few games he played, he actually performed quite well, showing quick reactions and accurate saves. Except for conceding three goals against Mainz, he was able to keep only one goal conceded in other games. One goal or no goals conceded, which is why he can gradually secure his main position."
"However, there are still problems with his goalkeeping skills, which have not been corrected over the years. That is, there are major flaws in his hand shape for catching the ball and the timing of his attack, which we can take advantage of. point."
"Including his ball coordination and command of the defense, he is not very good. This requires a lot of actual combat to accumulate experience, and he has obviously played too few professional games."
Pan Yi, Inzaghi and Nagelsmann looked at each other.
Obviously, everyone agrees with Teuber's point of view.
The goalkeeper is a very special position in a team.
They especially need practical experience, but they pursue stability the most.
When a team determines its main goalkeeper, it usually won't change it, not even a rotation is needed.
Unlike other substitute players, due to various reasons such as physical strength, they can still go up and kick a few kicks.
A goalkeeper like Hess who has been a substitute for many years has lost a lot of valuable game experience when he only became the main player at this age, which makes him more likely to make fatal mistakes on the field.
Just like the flaws Teuber mentioned, if Hess plays regularly, the problems may have been exposed in previous games and then slowly solved.
But just because he doesn't play enough games, he can't practice skills like timing of attacks and commanding the defense that must be reflected in games. He can't practice them in training anyway.
"So, do you have any good suggestions?" Pan Yi looked at Teuber and asked.
The German goalkeeper coach was obviously well prepared and replied with a smile: "In addition to what I just said, we need to strengthen the pressure on the goalkeeper and force him to make mistakes. When passing high balls into the penalty area, we must also pay attention to passing the ball to the penalty spot. A little forward."
"According to my observation, Hess is often more hesitant when playing high balls in this position. When he should go out to pick up the ball, he will choose to stand on the goalkeeper, and sometimes he will reach out recklessly to reach the ball that cannot be touched. It ended up being an empty goal.”
"In addition, our players can also add long-range shots. Although his success rate of saving the ball is relatively high, he often misses the ball. At this time, as long as we actively grab the second point, we are likely to get the opportunity to make up the shot. !”
Pan Yi understood.
He waved his hand and said to all the coaches and players: "You all heard what Teuber said. Now, let's discuss in groups immediately about the passing and long-range shooting arrangements in the midfield and the frontcourt. The market’s oppression plan…”
This is Pan Yi now.
He fully trusts every member of his team and trusts their professional judgment - having said that, anyone who is not worthy of his trust has already been kicked out of the team by him.
Although Pan Yi is a time traveler and has a course collection system for master tactics, he still has a lot that he cannot learn, and there is a lot of professional knowledge that he cannot compare with the members of the coaching staff.
For example, he relies on Nagelsmann for daily basic training arrangements. He is definitely not as good as Inzaghi in forward movement and shooting training. He is definitely not as professional as Pintus in physical training, and he basically doesn’t understand goalkeeper training...
Industry specializing in surgery. As the head coach, in addition to coordinating the overall operation of the team, the most important thing is personnel selection and tactical arrangements. Other things are left to more professional people.
In this way, everyone in the family has something to do and everyone is motivated.
Moreover, after gaining the trust of the head coach and implementing the professional opinions, the person who gave the opinions will also feel that they are valued, and they will feel more confident in doing things and have a sense of ownership!
"Okay, now I expect you to fuck him well, so that Felt can truly understand the cruelty of the Bundesliga!" Pan Yi finally said.
…
Pan Yi guessed half of Felt's formation and starting lineup right.
Buskens did follow the basic framework of his 442 dish midfielder, but he did not arrange a double center combination on the forward line.
He used a striker Djurdic who was outstanding in dribbling and shooting abilities, and behind him were two versatile midfielders Varga and Felstner.
Behind these two midfielders is defensive midfielder Gass.
Coupled with four defenders and two full midfielders, Felt actually arranged a 4141 formation for this game.
Compared with the traditional 442, it is to replace a center with a midfielder, and then move one of the midfielders back to the midfielder position.
This also illustrates Buskens' basic attitude towards this game: defense!
Obviously, although Buskens threatened to defeat Hamburg again before the game, he was not a fool.
Hamburg at this time is also very different from the beginning of the season. The excellent record of five wins and one draw after the winter break has made all teams afraid to show off their talents.
And now Fürth is still playing away from home!
So Buskens just wants to stabilize the defense first. If there is a chance to steal a three-pointer, that is naturally the best, but if he can take away a point, it is actually an explanation.
Now that Fürth has been ranked at the bottom of the standings, Buskens, as the head coach, is also under a lot of pressure.
It is said that Felt's senior management is already looking for a new head coach candidate.
And if Felt can get a good result in this game, such as an away draw with second-ranked Hamburg, it can also extend his life.
For Pan Yi, the lineup arranged by Buskens is not a big problem.
Although the formation has changed from the expected 442 to 4141, judging from the position on the field, the opponent's main framework and tactical ideas have not changed.
It's still the idea of a saucer-shaped midfielder, but after sacrificing a forward and adding a midfielder, the "dish" has become thicker and deeper, and the defense in the middle will be more solid.
But it doesn't matter, as long as Pan Yi's disciples can implement the "attack in the east, attack in the west, and move the tiger away from the mountain" strategy formulated before the game, this game will not be a big problem.
…
The bitter sand, the blowing pain on the face, was like the scoreboard in front of Buskens, so dazzling.
Just five minutes into the game, Felt fell behind.
Through a simple wing cooperation, Hamburg easily stretched their defense after luring the Felt midfielder to support.
Carvajal made a precise overhead long pass to the back of Fürth's defense. Son Heung-min got rid of the defender Mavraj who was marking him at an extremely fast speed, caught up with the ball first, stopped the ball and rushed into the goal. restricted area.
When Fürth goalkeeper Hess hesitated and finally chose to abandon the goal, Son Heung-min had already passed the ball.
He selflessly chose to cross to the unguarded right side.
Center forward Vardy followed up and easily pushed the shot into the empty goal, 1:0!
Hamburg scored first!
This goal was more than just a goal.
This completely disrupted Buskens' preparation before the game.
Conceding the ball early is what a weak team fears most when encountering a team stronger than itself.
So what to do now?
If you fall behind, it doesn't make much sense to stick to it. After all, this is a league worth 3 points, not one of the knockout rounds. There is not much difference between losing more and losing less.
But offense?
With Felt's current weak offensive ability, does he have the confidence and ability to face Hamburg, one of the best defensive teams in the Bundesliga this season?
13 goals in 23 games! On average, he only scores one goal every two games.
Hamburg's 20 goals conceded in 23 games ranks second among all 18 Bundesliga teams, second only to the brutal Bayern - the Southern King has only conceded 8 goals now, which is simply outrageous.
It's almost like using the crappiest spear to poke the second strongest shield.
What bothered Buskens even more was how could the defensive formation he carefully designed before the game be so vulnerable to Hamburg?
You know, although Felt is not good at offense, he still does a good job at defense.
They have rarely lost by a big score like 0:3 this season. The most common scores are often 0:0, 0:1, or 1:1, 1:2.
This is why Buskens is confident about his saucer-shaped midfield defensive tactics, and it also makes him feel that he can withstand Hamburg's attack on the road.
Hannover 96 also used similar tactics to draw with Hamburg in the last round, which also gave Buskens even more confidence.
But he never expected that this was just the beginning. How could his formation be as full of loopholes as a sieve, and he would be ripped open by Hamburg and score a goal?
It's like Pan Yi has completely seen through all the shortcomings of this 4141 formation.
Buskens couldn't help but glance towards the home team's coaching area.
At this time, Pan Yi was smiling and applauding the Hamburg players on the field to express his congratulations, but he did not express any special excitement, as if all this was expected by him.
Buskens panicked.
He forced himself to calm down his panic, and then began to signal the players on the field not to worry and to hold their ground.
He also added some additional instructions.
That is, when Hamburg attacks from the wing, don't rush forward. Hold your position first to prevent the gap from being too large due to loss of position.
Buskens could see the problem on his side and still wanted to defend first.
Conceding only one goal, Felt might have a chance to counterattack after he withstood Hamburg's fierce opening attack.
But if he is scored again, there will really be no way to save the day.
…
Buskens' adjustments had a certain effect in a short period of time.
When Hamburg's two wingers are attacking, Fürth's two midfielders Varga and Fürstner will still support their respective sides, but they will choose to help defend and block positions more intelligently, making Hamburg's situation difficult. Play a penetrating match.
At this time, Felt's defensive midfielder Gass was waiting for an opportunity to see which side was weak before helping. He usually stayed in the middle to avoid Hamburg suddenly shifting and penetrating his own rear.
However, this situation lasted for more than twenty minutes.
In other words, Felt withstood Hamburg's attack for more than 20 minutes.
Because Hamburg's offense is not limited to the wings!
This time, Felt failed to defend the set piece.
As the game approached thirty minutes, Hamburg got a free kick opportunity on the right side of the frontcourt.
De Bruyne took the ball and hit it right in front of Felt's goal.
Goalkeeper Hess abandoned the goal and tried to pick up the ball, but he ended up holding Rudiger's huge black head in the palm of his hand!
Naturally, the ball was not picked up, but fell into the small penalty area.
Paulinho, who had quick eyes and quick hands, stretched out his foot and poked the ball into the empty goal. Even if two of Felt's defenders sacrificed their lives to tackle it, they could not prevent the ball from entering the net.
2:0!
This game lost its suspense in the first half.
…
"You played very well today and executed your tactics very well!"
During the halftime break, Pan Yi praised the players just after entering the locker room.
The performance of Hamburg players tonight is worthy of recognition.
The two goals in the first half fully reflected the tactics Pan Yi arranged before the game.
De Bruyne's footwork is of course also the key. The free kick he took happened to be at the position where the opponent's goalkeeper felt most uncomfortable, which also caused him to make mistakes while busy, eventually leading to the goal conceded.
"We must continue to attack in the second half!" Pan Yi said decisively.
This is his basic policy for this game, even if he is ahead, he will not waver.
Then Pan Yi began to emphasize the frontcourt personnel's pressing and oppression of the opponent's goalkeeper, as well as strengthening long-range shots.
Now the opponent has conceded two goals, and the second goal is directly related to the goalkeeper's mistake.
In this case, players who are not strong enough to withstand pressure often develop a negative mentality. Pan Yi wants to seize such favorable factors and strive to expand the score!
This may be cruel to the opposing goalkeeper Hess, but this is professional football.
In sports competitions, food is the original sin.
Why can't some players play?
Or some players are good when things go smoothly at the beginning, but fall quickly once they encounter setbacks?
Maybe there is nothing wrong with their skills, but they may just be unable to adjust their mentality in this fiercely competitive professional arena, unable to treat every failure with a normal attitude, and thus playing worse and worse.
Far away there is Senderos, a Swiss youngster who was regarded by Wenger as "the backbone of Arsenal's defense for ten years in the future". He lost confidence after being beaten several times by Drogba.
Then he rented out, then moved to small teams such as Fulham, and finally retired helplessly.
The most recent one is Karius, who became the main goalkeeper of the Premier League giants Liverpool at the age of 23, but made super, super, super huge mistakes one after another in the Champions League final.
There was overwhelming ridicule of Karius on social networks, which obviously affected his mentality and subsequent performance.
Then he was relegated to the sidelines by Liverpool and sub-leased in various ways. If you see him in any game highlights, it must be that he made another mistake...
And real superstars often come out quickly after major mistakes, and then perform to their own level and embark on the road to redemption.
Roberto Baggio, who missed the penalty kick in the 1994 World Cup final, withstood the chatter of Chilean players in the 1998 World Cup and personally took the penalty kick and scored his own penalty.
Beckham, who was dismissed in the 1998 World Cup and was eliminated by England, became the public enemy of England. However, he led England to the World Cup with a free kick in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and also scored a goal for Argentina in the main game. , complete the perfect revenge.
Or, more recently, Saka, the young player who missed the penalty kick in the 2020 European Cup final.
He didn't actually take penalty kicks very much, but after returning to Arsenal, he became the club's first penalty kicker. This ability to withstand pressure is evident.
In short, competitive sports do not believe in tears, only strength!
And mental attributes are also an important part of a player's strength!
Finally, Pan Yi completed the locker room lecture at halftime with a heroic concluding speech:
"You have played very well tonight, but I need you to play better! We must put on a beautiful offensive performance in front of all the fans and completely defeat Felt!"
"Eintracht Frankfurt defeated us before and we have avenged it."
"Felt also defeated us before, so tonight we have to let him know what the price of defeating us is!"
The players are inspired and full of fighting spirit!
(End of chapter)
